The next-gen Abdullah

Omar Abdullah has presented himself as young and articulate leader. His clean image, devoid of any corruption and scams, became a rallying point in the Assembly elections which he won to become the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in January 2009. Abdullah, the youngest chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was considered an outsider by his detractors but he proved them wrong. It's ironical though that Omar, who was projected as dynamic, progressive and modern leader of Kashmir, was many a times in the news for all the wrong reasons. Be it his Shopian faux pas or the alleged increasing human rights violations in the Valley, his initial years at the helm of affairs were by any standard simply controversial. This scion of Kashmir's first family will have to go long way before he masters the state craft, and that too of a state besieged with militancy and separatist movement for over two decades.

After he led his party National Conference to victory, Omar took over the reins of Jammu and Kashmir amid high hope. However, running this violence manifested state was not easy proposition and as expected Omar has had his share of problems and controversies. Within months of his taking over as chief minister, a civilian was shot dead by the security forces barely a few feet away from his house. It was later found that the victim was mentally challenged and he had come to Abdullah to seek his help. The incident brought a lot of bad press to the young chief minister.

After he took over as the chief minister of the state there were spate of violence and encounters as a result opposition accused him of human rights violation. In the past, opposition parties and separatist elements have accused his father of being the stooge of the Centre. And the accusation of being insensitive to the pains of the general Kashmiri would have obviously dented his popularity. Omar Abdullah realised the rising passions in the Valley and the separatists used the pent up anger to their advantage. Omar immediately promised to reduce the level of troops in the Valley and even met Home Minister and army chief in this regard. He even ordered withdrawal of CRPF from Baramullah, a move welcomed in the Valley.

There was huge drama when a senior Peoples Democratic Party leader accused him of involvement in the infamous Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal. An enraged and emotionally-charged Omar immediately rushed to the Governor and submitted his resignation as chief minister of the state. However, he was persuaded by the Governor not to resign and as there was no proof of his involvement in the scam.

Omar's biggest faux pas was the Shopian rape and murder case and this case kept the Valley on the boil for a long time. Separatists and extremists used this case to arouse public opinion against Omar's government and his mishandling of the case put his government in poor light. Omar's shear inexperience was single most important reason why Shopian rape and murder case went to his disadvantage. Though he apologized for giving clean chit to the police but a subsequent CBI inquiry vindicated his position, which absolved the police of rape and murder charges.